Eye tracking techniques are applied in a variety of circumstances. Eye tracking may include determination of a point of gaze at which a person's eyes are directed at an instant of time. For example, a sequence of frames or images of the eye may be analyzed to determine a direction toward which an eye is looking. Such a gaze tracking technique may include determining a position of an identifiable region of the eye, such as a pupil or iris. A determined position of the identifiable region of the eye relative to a determined position of another region or feature of the eye or face may be analyzed to yield a direction of the gaze.
A determined direction of a gaze may be of use in different circumstances. For example, gaze tracking may be utilized in psychological or physiological research. Gaze tracking may be utilized in coordination with a computing or communications device such as a computer or smartphone. For example, gaze tracking may provide information to a content provider regarding which displayed content has been viewed by a user of the device. Gaze tracking may be utilized to control the device. For example, gaze tracking may be utilized in hands-free control of scrolling or selection of displayed content.
Determination of a direction or point of gaze may require calibration. For example, a viewer may be requested to look at displayed object or other object at a known position (e.g., relative to a camera or other device that is tracking eye movements). A user or viewer may consider such a process to be distracting, annoying, or otherwise distasteful.